A Mob's Mentality
by Lloyd Irving Aurion
Summary: Post-game. After beating Mithos the group goes to Meltokio to recover and celebrate. What they find shocks them, after all large groups of people don't react well to big changes. Sheloyd. Not quite Zelos bashing, but close to it. Rated T to be safe.


Author Notes: I feel it necessary to warn you that this is slightly random and not at all what I had intended it to be. But this is what my muse typed out. Obviously takes place at the end of the game, so spoilers are here if you haven't beaten the game. Also, this has not been beta'd so any mistakes are my own. And if you would be so kind to point any that you see out to me, I would appreciate it.

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It hadn't taken the people of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla long to figure out that something drastic had happened. After all, when your home town, which had previously been surrounded by open fields suddenly has a mountain range appear out of no where, it's kind of hard to miss that things just aren't the same anymore. It also doesn't take very long for people to panic when the landscape around then changes so drastically. This just happened to be the scene that the Chosen's entourage found when they entered Meltokio, not only to celebrate their victory properly, but also get some much needed rest.

"What the hell?!?!" exclaimed Lloyd as they entered the capital city and were greeted by the sight of thousands of people doing what people do best when something drastic happens in their lives.

"I'll second that Lloyd," replied Genis, his eyes wide in shock.

"I believe that adequately expresses all our thoughts," stated Kratos, his right hand coming to rest on the hilt of his sword just in case the mob in front of them decided to attack.

"Do you think it would be wise to ask someone what has happened?" questioned Presea as she warily eyed the people of the city.

"I vote we send Zelos to find out," came the immediate reply from the beautiful Summoner as she stepped in behind Lloyd.

"What? Why should I be the one to go," Zelos asked fearfully. "I thought that Lloyd was the leader here. Doesn't that mean that he should be the one to go find out?"

Sheena, not liking that idea in the least, turned on the red-haired Chosen glaring fiercely. "If you think for one second that I'm going to let Lloyd go anywhere near that mob you're even more stupid than I thought you were."

" But..." started Zelos, only to be immediately interrupted by the irate beauty.

"But nothing," she said angrily; "Lloyd is staying right here. Besides, you're the Chosen of Tethe'alla. You have a responsibility to these people."

"She does have a point Zelos," Regal stated calmly, though he, like all the others, was carefully watching the mass of obviously frightened citizens.

"But," the Chosen tried again, only to be interrupted once again, but this time by Raine.

"Why don't we take a vote on it, after all we are civilized beings," Raine injected from the rear of the group, having moved back there so that she could make a hasty exit if things suddenly got ugly.

"That is an excellent idea Raine," agreed Kratos before Zelos could protest. "All in favor of the Chosen being sent to determine the situation say "I" on the count of three, 1...2...3"

"_**I,**_" seven voices shouted in unison, only Zelos and Collette not agreeing.

"Seven to two in favor of sending Zelos," Kratos said, rendering the verdict of the vote. "Though I must ask, why didn't you say I Collette?"

"It just doesn't look very safe," was Collette's anxious answer. "Zelos could get hurt."

"Well, at least my cute little angel is on my side," exclaimed Zelos happily.

"...You do realize, that if we do not send Zelos that someone else will have to go, do you not," Kratos asked slowly. "Would you rather that Lloyd be sent?"

Upon hearing Kratos' question Collette's eyes grew extremely wide and she began waving her arms wildly in front of her while shaking her head. "No!" she all but shouted.

"Very well then, the vote is now eight-to-one," corrected Kratos with not a small hint of satisfaction. "I would wish you luck, but I'm not sure that any amount would be sufficient to help you."

Defeated and downtrodden, Zelos slowly made his way to the people of the city, all the while muttering about the unfairness of it all.

"I just almost feel sorry for him," Lloyd said, looking to his right at the kunoichi who had taken hold of his arm.

"The pervert deserves it," Sheena told him. "And anyway, it's not like he's anything but cannon fodder."

"Well, if you want to put it like that," he said, grinning down at her.

"I knew you'd see it my way," she stated, beaming at him.

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With each step that Zelos took towards the mob running madly through the city, memories of his life flashed before his eyes. More specifically, memories of all the times he had tried to hit on Sheena and get the buxom beauty into bed with him. And as each memory played out, the Chosen could only think that maybe, just maybe, perving on Sheena hadn't been the good idea it had always seemed to be. But it was when he was spotted that he absolutely _knew_ that it had been a very bad and very stupid thing to do.

"It's the Chosen," shouted a random citizen.

The result was something that one would only think to hear about in a bad story. At once, and in perfect sync, everyone's heads turned to take in the sight of the city's favorite son. The widespread looks of panic quickly turned to relief, and for a brief moment Zelos thought that he would be all right. Then the mob of people swarmed towards him, each one screaming and begging for him to tell them what was going on. The poor Chosen barely had the time to let out a shrill, girly shriek before the waves of citizens engulfed him.

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Ranging from the abject horror of Collette to the unimaginable relief of Lloyd, the reactions of the rest of the party of warriors were varied and all-encompassing. But it was Sheena's reaction that was perhaps the most...interesting.

"Hahahahahahahha...deserves...hahaha...it...hahahhahaha," laughing so hard that she could barely speak a single word, Sheena had to be supported completely by Lloyd who had wrapped his arms around her to keep her upright.

"You shouldn't say such things Sheena," Kratos admonished. "Even if they are true," he added, a smile working at the corners of his mouth.

"I don't know Kratos," Genis started, eyeing the crowd that had swarmed around Zelos. "After all, if the shoe fits..."

"Kratos has a valid point," interjected Raine. "As irritating as he can be, Zelos is our companion and was, loathe as I am to admit it, indispensible on our journey."

"Are you suggesting that we actually try to rescue that idiot?" Sheena asked incredulously, Raine's comment having instantly stopped her laughter, though everyone did notice that she made no attempt to remove herself from Lloyd's arms.

With a look that could only say 'are you mad?', Raine stated, "I said no such thing Sheena. On the contrary actually, I believe that we should make a hasty retreat before that mob decides to come to us as well."

"I concur," agreed Regal. "Relocating ourselves is an excellent idea."

"But, what about Zelos?" questioned a still horrified Collette. "We can't just leave him."

"Chance of success at rescuing Zelos without becoming trapped as well is zero," assessed Presea. "Retreat is the recommended course of action."

"That sounds like a plan to me," Lloyd stated, turning to face the rest of the group, still holding Sheena close to him. "The only question I have is where should we retreat to?"

_**Might I recommend Altamira?**_ came the disembodied voice of Origin. _**It appears to currently be the safest place on the world.**_

"That makes sense," Regal said. "The people there would be too busy relaxing and having fun to notice the changes that recently took place."

"That's kind of a ways off though," objected Lloyd. "Even by Rheairds it will take almost two hours to get there."

"You know Lloyd," whispered Sheena into his ear, "There's this tiny little bikini that I saw in one of the shops last time we were there, and I'd be more than happy to model it for you..."

Though unable to hear what Sheena was telling him, the rest of the party watched in amusement as her words caused Lloyd's eyes to widen and his face heat up in a moderate blush. But it was when he suddenly lifted the Summoner into his arms, accompanied by a shout of "Altamira here we come!" that caused several in the group to break out in laughter.

"He certainly changed his mind in a hurry," sniggered Genis, watching as Lloyd didn't even bother with a Rheaird, instead choosing to open his wings and take flight that way.

"Indeed," agreed Kratos opting, like Lloyd, to fly to the resort island under his own power. "I suppose that we will see the rest of you there," the Seraphim added before taking off, his angelic hearing picking up on the joyous laughter of the girl in his son's arms.

"Man, you'd think that they'd at least have the decency to wait for us," complained Genis, noticing that Kratos and Lloyd were disappearing quite quickly.

"We too should make our exit before we are noticed," Regal advised, choosing not to comment of Genis' statement.

Walking towards the exit, Collette, unable to restrain her curiosity asked, "I wonder what it was that Sheena said to Lloyd to make him change his mind?"

"I have some idea, though I was about to ask you that," Raine said to the young angel. "With your angelic hearing I thought you would have been able to hear what she said."

"It's kind of weird Professor, but it was like something was blocking me from hearing them," Collette told her, clearly confused by the situation.

"Do you think that perhaps one of the Summon Spirits may have been responsible?" Presea asked as she boarded her Rheaird.

"I would like to say no Presea," answered Raine, climbing onboard her Rheaird as well. "But I must admit that I am unaware of the limits of both Origin as well as Maxwell. It is entirely possible that one of those two would have the ability to block sound," lectured Raine as the group took flight, leaving the citizens of the great city of Meltokio in the care of Zelos Wilder.

As the heroes of Symphonia vanished into the sky, not one of them noticed the ethereal fox spirit sitting on the wall surrounding the city, smiling contentedly at the events that had transpired. "Though I can no longer be with you in person, know that I will always be in your heart Sheena. And also know that I am very happy that you and Lloyd have finally found each other..."

"Someone help me!!!" interrupted Zelos' terrified cry from the city.

"Not going to happen you perverted Chosen," spoke the spirit. "Maybe now you'll think twice next time you want to perv on Sheena," he stated before vanishing into the ether, happily leaving Zelos to his plight.

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A/N: Again any mistakes are my own. Please let me know if you find any so that I can correct them. Thank You for reading.


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